


Vent

by yeaka



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Ficlet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-19
Updated: 2015-08-19
Packaged: 2018-04-15 15:21:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4611717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tauriel gets a visit from more than a squirrel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vent

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Fill for anon’s “Tauriel/Nori” prompt on [the Hobbit Kink Meme](http://hobbit-kink.livejournal.com/9471.html?thread=20660735#t20660735).
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own The Hobbit or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

Guard duty was never particularly exciting, but it’s worse so, now that she’s had a taste of other things. She didn’t go particularly _far_ , not when one looks at long forgotten maps, but she _saw_ enough to change her perspective. She still loves her home, still loves her people, and in her own way, loves her king. This is her place in the world. But temptation’s out there, and it makes her fidget where she used to stand still, poised in one of the outer halls with her bow ready at her back. 

She looks right away when she hears a sudden noise, small, and muffled, like something far off or through the walls. It’s just a whisper, gone so quick that she wonders if her mind conjured it, longing for _excitement_ as it is. But she’s wary for the next few minutes, and it comes again, the soft scrape of something overhead, drawing her eyes straight to the ceiling. 

Most of the walls in Thranduil’s kingdom are stone, but many are wood, not so much carved as shaped from living trees, and the ceiling of this corridor is woven together from many branches. The noise could’ve come from the trees outside the curving path, looking into the forest, only pillars between to show a peek at the sunset. But this sounded _directly_ overhead, and Tauriel tenses accordingly. The perimeter watch is the most important, if largely uneventful. If anything passes by her, it will be _in_ the king’s keep, and without his permission, that’s a lethal offense. 

The sounds, when they come, intermittent and stifled as they are, seem to be moving. Tauriel creeps along with them, drawing her bow as she goes, though the only explanation her mind can conjure is a squirrel or some other woodland creature, somehow trapped inside the branches. She’s never heard of such a thing before in all her many years, but she’s learned of late that the world is full of surprises. 

It comes to a stop, finally, two, then three shuffling sounds in the same place. There’s a spot in the ceiling where the branches are particularly far apart, carved out like a black hole that only looks up to other layers of woods. Though she has no intention of shooting some poor rodent, she draws her bow and points it to the entrance, just in case. She waits and hears one last noise.

Then a figure bursts from the hole, huge and fat and nothing like a squirrel, forcing the branches to crick as they spread wider than they were meant to. The creature falls half out, nearly rocking right into Tauriel’s readied arrow, and she takes a step back, squeaking in sheer surprise—it’s not a squirrel but a _person_ : a living, breathing _dwarf_ , sticking half out of the overhang. 

Bent at the waist and his whole torso swaying upside down before her, Nori chirps, “Hello, my love! Did you miss me?”

Tauriel puts her bow away by sheer habit, then clutches her racing heart instead of answering. It takes much to give a warrior of her skill such a shock, but trust her thief to do it. While she’s still ogling him, he fishes in his pocket and produces a silver chain studded in white gems, which he holds out for her, smiling wide. He looks a little roughed up, likely from crawling where he has no business being, and the normally perfect points of his hair are fraying on the ends. The tips of his beard droop against gravity, the thick braids holding them outright, and he offers, “For you, my lady. Treasure for my greatest treasure!”

She wants to scold him, she really does, but the necklace distracts her. It’s _beautiful_ , as his gifts always are, and the twinkling jewels draw her eye. The design itself is slim but elaborate, thoroughly attractive and likely more valuable than anything she owns. She reaches her hands out, ready to take it, but stops herself to ask suspiciously, “How did you get this?” She’s no longer so naïve as he seems to think her, and as much as Tauriel adores this odd creature, she’s not deluded on his faults. 

Nori just says, “I have my ways,” and shrugs. 

Tauriel narrows her eyes, asking flat out, “Did you steal it?”

“Nope,” Nori insists, then draws one hand back to clap against his chest. “On my honour as a dwarf, this is fairly gained and for the fairest lady I know.”

Tauriel wrinkles her nose and gently bites the inside of her lip to keep herself from grinning. She doesn’t think he’d lie to her, though he’d certainly lie to just about anyone else. Perhaps it’s from his share of Erebor’s stores, or from the trolls he told her of, or one of his many other daring tales that always makes her eyes grow wide with excitement. She’s not sure how much honour he has in any capacity, but he’s certainly endearing, and for that, she takes a step closer, allowing him to reach his stubby fingers around her neck. She lifts her own hair out of the way so it doesn’t get caught when he clips it in place, the cool metal falling against her collarbone. The diamonds glimmer between, drawing her eye down, and before she knows what’s happening, he’s pecking her forehead. 

Unable to stifle her laugh, Tauriel lifts up on her toes for the next one, her fingers catching between the points of his hair to hold him in place. They share one upside-down kiss, more ticklish than usual, with his beard ends falling against her cheeks. She enjoys the kiss anyway, even when he sneakily slips his tongue into her mouth, always one step naughtier. 

He’ll have to wait for that. She’s still on duty, and she pulls back sooner than she’d like. Nori takes the cue to reach up to his perch and awkwardly tumble out of the ceiling. She doesn’t bother trying to catch him, just steps aside while his boots hit the floor and he stumbles into place. She sighs, “The king will not be pleased that you have come.”

Dusting off his knees, Nori chirps, “Why’d you think I took the backdoor?” He winks as he rises, always trouble. He’s just lucky she happens to be of high enough rank to be posted alone—this would be very difficult to explain to any witnesses. 

For now, she turns him by the shoulders and steers him down the corridor towards a side door, musing, “You’ll have to tell me how you managed that.” Then she has to clamp a hand over his mouth to stop him from trying it now, and she bites back her own giggles as she shuffles him quickly off to her quarters before anyone else can see.


End file.
